Abstract
The relevance of nutrition to national development is very strategic; even though many sub-Saharan African countries do not consider nutritional challenges as critical. Poor disposition to nutrition in many African countries are aggravated by the quality of nutrition professionals in the region. There is lack of reliable information regarding the number of people working as nutrition professionals and the quality of the training received. Majority of countries in Africa cannot boast of world-class nutrition training institutes and linkages with standard foreign institutes are few. The dearth of highly qualified nutrition professionals has resulted into poor nutrition programme planning, implementation and evaluation. In some cases, the outcome of many nutrition intervention programmes is at variance with the set goals due to faulty programme planning and design. It is obvious that urgent consideration should be given to capacity building of nutrition professionals in developing countries, especially in those countries where the problem of malnutrition has remained unabated for many years. Developmental assistance from donor countries and other global bodies should have nutrition components. Capacity building in nutrition stands as one of the most cost-effective veritable tools to enhance national progress. However, the UNICEF’s Conceptual Framework on the Causes of Malnutrition may need to include lack of capacity building for nutrition professionals as part of the strategies to tackle the underlying causes of malnutrition in developing countries. Availability of competent professionals in the field of nutrition may be the beginning of profitable journey to solving many problems confronting the continent of Africa.
Highlights
The abstract nature of nutrition as a field of endeavour does much to explain its poor image among other professions
Despite the importance of the profession to all aspects of national development, the nutrition profession has a poor status in many African countries [1]
Many governments cannot distinguish between food and nutrition and, much support is given to agriculture but little or none to nutrition programmes
Summary
The abstract nature of nutrition as a field of endeavour does much to explain its poor image among other professions. The quality of training is often technically deficient It has been negatively affected by nonuniformity of curricula being used in various schools of nutrition. As a result graduates from different nutrition institutions, with the same qualification – at least on paper – may display different levels of understanding of the subject These differences in the curricula in schools of nutrition make the field of nutrition less professional! Some nutrition schools focus mainly on biomedical aspects of nutrition and do not include the social science components in their curricula Graduates from such institutions will find it very difficult to adopt social sciences approach to programme planning, implementation and evaluation. The likely aftermath of the deficiencies in training will include poor remuneration for some nutrition professionals who are working as civil servants. Another move is already in the offing to place nutrition directly under the presidency
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